The Student Council hosted a Blood Drive on Thursday, January 30 - an event that was a great success. They came very close to achieving their donation goal of 27 pints of blood. Per Grace Maneri, one of the faculty advisors for the group, "We had a "very low" no show rate, apparently a rarity with high school blood drives, and most importantly, our students were "incredible," and "very polite" and "kind," again, apparently, not so common with high school blood drives. Students (athletes) and others helped move furniture and the balloon arch with an attitude of community and character. Student Council Volunteers, NHS Volunteers and Medical Assisting students all showed the professionalism we strive so hard to instill in our students. There was not one part of the school that did not step up and in to help: Front office, Dean's office, Nurse's office, faculty (those who donated and those who were flexible enough to allow students to be out of class), Facilities Department, and the leadership team."
From left: Amy Manzanarez (11), Julianna Suwena (12), Grace Kennedy (12)
Scenes as freshmen settle into their vocational programs
HVAC
Metal Fabrication
Culinary Arts
Cold and flu season is upon us. A few reminders about attendance:
If you have called your student out sick and you still receive a robocall, please do not call back. All attendance line calls are picked up daily but with the high volume of sick calls, they are not always picked up before the time the robocall sends daily. You can check that your call was received by looking in Power School the next day and ensuring that your student was marked ADC. A parent call does not suffice to excuse absences; a doctor's note must be submitted within 7 days of the absence.
Please remember as well that every three dismissals or tardies equals an absence; these can be excused with doctor's notes for appointments but otherwise they will be marked as unexcused.
Environmental Sci. Seniors
Ms. Sibilia's senior Environmental Science class heard from Mike Haskell, a thermal engineer, who has designed his own net zero house. This provided an opportunity for cross-curricular instruction, as juniors from the Engineering and Electrical joined her classes.
Electrical Juniors
The TC football team was recognized at the State House on 1/30/25.
In the coming weeks, planning for graduation and senior events will pick up considerably. At this time, your senior student's focus should be on maintaining their grades, attendance and behavior. Term 2 ends March 7. There are only 5 and a half academic weeks in Term 3 before senior finals, the equivalent of about 25 academic days. For academic grading, this does not leave a lot of time for remediation for any student with marginal grades. Parents/guardians may wish to check PowerSchool and remind students of this shortened timeline. Separately, walking at graduation is a privilege which can be revoked for disciplinary reasons; while no student has given us cause to believe that this is a step we would have to take, it is important nonetheless to be sure they are clear about the expectations. We have scheduled a class meeting for 2/11 to remind students of these expectations and to discuss a March senior field trip. A quick note: Prom is early this year; it is scheduled for Thursday, April 17.
The winter semi-formal has been scheduled for Friday, March 7. More information will be forthcoming; tickets go on sale after the February vacation. Students who have more than four unexcused absences are not permitted to attend the semi-formal. PLEASE NOTE: We have made the following changes to our guest policy. Students will continue to be able to bring a guest from another district, provided they complete the guest permission form which can be obtained from the Dean's Office. However, a copy of the guests ID must be returned with the guest permission form and guests will need to have this same ID so that they photo can be matched when they sign in to the dance.
As you can see, it's been a whirlwind of a month here at TC with events happening across student activities, athletics and vocational and academic instruction. The freshmen class has elected their class officers; the junior and senior classes have been invited to run for a special election to represent the school at this spring's Student Government Day at the State House. There has been a noticeable increase in student initiative in planning activities for the benefit of the collective student body resulting in the Blood Drive, a senior class field trip in March and expanding the role of Student Ambassadors in freshmen orientation; this increase in student leadership serves a great purpose in contributing to a robust student life on our campus. In other news, we now have a total of 123 seniors and 12 juniors out on Co-op. The building project continues to move along; check out the building project link on our website where you can watch a time lapse video of the progress over the last few months.
At the same time that life continues apace at TC, the district is also monitoring what is happening on a broader policy level to determine impacts on school policies, procedures and response plans for changes to MCAS, Title IX, immigration enforcement, i.e. The district maintains its commitment to student safety and to ensuring that we are a community where every individual feels respected and valued. There are some resources included below for students and families. However, please do not hesitate to contact your student's grade level school counselor to discuss concerns and resources. As regards MCAS, information will be forthcoming (early March) on the district's requirements for competency determination in light of the state MCAS vote.
Finally, the School Council is seeking parent/guardian input on home-school communication as well as on the freshmen exploratory experience. Please keep an eye on your email for this survey in the coming weeks!
The Month Ahead
February 17 - 21: February Vacation
March 7: End of Trimester 2
